To CTG:
This is counter productive not to increase the limit of Raw Materials import since Bangladesh does not have enough Raw materials to produce medicines. We will urge CTG take immediate action to increase the Raw Materials import to control medicines price and increase the pharmaceuticals export target.
Ay quick decision and action will be appreciated.
Best Wishes,
The Change Bangladesh Organization (CBd) Team, USA
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Raw material import limit forces Beximco Pharma to cut output
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| Photo shows medicines manufactured by Beximco Pharmaceuticals. The leading drug maker says it has been forced to cut production and exports due to restrictions on the import of key raw materials. Photo: Beximco website |
The cutbacks in production are one of the reasons why the country has run short of medicines, such as oral saline solution used in the treatment of diarrohea and the pain killer paracetamol, according to Nazmul Hassan, chief executive of Beximco Pharmaceuticals.
The company is also postponing its plans to raise fresh funds on the London Stock Exchange due to corruption allegations against Beximco Pharma's vice chairman Salman F Rahman.
"We have only been able to import one third of the raw materials we did last year as the government has instructed us to strictly comply with the limits imposed by our permits," said Nazmul Hassan who is also Secretary General of the Bangladesh Association of Pharamceutical Industries.
He said that the current import limit had been set eight years ago but had not previously been enforced. The limit was expected to be increased in January, however this did not happen due to the political upheavals.
Instead, the caretaker government has enforced existing limits, fearing that weak controls could give rise to money laundering.
The lack of raw materials has meant production has been severely restricted.
"Beximco Pharmaceutical's annual turnover was Tk 400 crore in the domestic market but so far sales by November have been only Tk 230 to Tk 240 crore," Nazmul Hassan said.
The production shortfall has created volatility in the local drug market, Nazmul Hassan said, pointing to the example of oral saline solution that at one stage this year shot up to Tk 105 a bottle against the usual price of Tk 35.
Nazmul Hassan admitted that his company is facing cash flow difficulties, but said this was being managed by rationing production.
"To be frank we have to concentrate production on drugs that are more profitable," he said, pointing to medicines like Neoceptin-R, an anti stomach ulcer treatment.
Beximco Pharma has been awarded the `gold' national export trophy on three occasions, but the lack of raw materials has hit exports hard, with the company able to meet only 10 percent of overseas orders, Nazmul Hassan said "Beximco has suspended export to some countries despite having orders," he said.
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